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Baby Blacks to compete in new U20 Rugby Championship
By Finn Morton
The Junior Wallabies and Baby Blacks will compete in a new SANZAAR U20 Rugby Championship in 2024 alongside Argentina and South Africa.
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SANZAAR made the announcement on Thursday, with the competition set to take place over three weeks on the Gold Coast in April.
South Africa was the pick of these four nations at the recent World Rugby U20 Championships, with the Junior Boks finishing in third place.
Australia, who beat New Zealand in two of three meetings this year, finished in fifth – two spots higher than the Baby Blacks. As for Argentina, they were a couple of spots back in ninth.
This competition will pit the best up-and-coming talent in southern hemisphere rugby against one another, as they look to take the next step in their development and careers.
“It has long been recognised that the missing link in our junior pathways was the existence of a SANZAAR international championship for up-and-coming talent,” SANZAAR and RA Chairman Hamish McLennan said.
“I am really excited that SANZAAR is now committing to this new championship.
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“The SANZAAR member unions and I are confident its establishment can only strengthen rugby pathways for young players in the southern hemisphere.
“Exposure to additional international matches can only benefit the players in terms of experience and adapting to the demands of the top level of rugby.”
Throughout the U20 Championships in South Africa, the southern hemisphere nations struggled to match the physicality and skillsets presented by their northern rivals.
France won the title for the third consecutive time, while Ireland can be proud of their efforts as they finished in second.
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New Zealand was well off the mark, and Australia couldn’t quite reach the heights that some might have expected of them.
But as SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris said, this competition – which is similar to the Six Nations U20s Championship – will become “a vital step in the progression of young talent.”
“This is a vital step in the progression of young talent across our member unions as importantly it will provide extra development opportunities each year for players, coaches, team management and match officials, and will allow for better preparation into the World Rugby Championships,” Morris added.
“There is still some detail to put in place and we will announce this as we approach the kick-off of the inaugural tournament.
“The member unions are all committed to ensuring the U20 tournament is a best practice event that develops the young talent they have at their disposal.”
Finally. It is absolutely shocking it has taken SANZAAR so long to respond to the Six Nations U20 Competition which has clearly benefitted France and Ireland. So in future years, SANZAAR U20s will be on a more level playing field and this will benefit their national men’s teams.
The Oceania U20s competition was a joke. It simply does not prepare those teams for big forward play.
Marvellous. Long overdue.